Kappa Draconis is a blue giant

Blue giant

In astronomy, a blue giant is a star with a spectral type of O or B and a luminosity class of III...

 star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 located in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Draco

Draco (constellation)

Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon. Draco is circumpolar for many observers in the northern hemisphere...

. At an apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 of 3.88, it is barely visible to the naked eye

Naked eye

The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception unaided by a magnifying or light-collecting optical device, such as a telescope or microscope. Vision corrected to normal acuity using corrective lenses is considered "naked"...

 when artificial lighting from cities is present. Nevertheless, it is a powerful star, approximately five time as massive as the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

. It is approximately 490 light-year

Light-year

A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

s away, and is 1,400 times brighter than the Sun.

Kappa is thought to be just entering its red giant

Red giant

A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere from 5,000 K and lower...

 phase, having exhausted the supply of hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...

 in its core

Solar core

The core of the Sun is considered to extend from the center to about 0.2 to 0.25 solar radius. It is the hottest part of the Sun and of the Solar System. It has a density of up to 150 g/cm³ and a temperature of close to 15,000,000 kelvin...

. Over the next several thousand years, the star will expand, becoming more powerful but with a much cooler surface temperature. Tens of thousands of years from now, Kappa Draconis will appear much brighter, probably shining with a reddish hue.

The star is currently located at declination

Declination

In astronomy, declination is one of the two coordinates of the equatorial coordinate system, the other being either right ascension or hour angle. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, but projected onto the celestial sphere. Declination is measured in degrees north and...

 69° 47' 18" North (RA

Right ascension

Right ascension is the astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system. The other coordinate is the declination.-Explanation:...

 12h 33m 29.0s) , but due to the effects of precession

Precession

Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotation axis of a rotating body. It can be defined as a change in direction of the rotation axis in which the second Euler angle is constant...

, Kappa Draconis was the nearest star to the North Celestial Pole visible to the naked eye from 1793 BC to approximately 1000 BC. However, because it is so much dimmer than nearby Kochab

Beta Ursae Minoris

Beta Ursae Minoris is the second brightest star in the bowl of the "Little Dipper,"the constellation Ursa Minor. It has the traditional name Kochab. Kochab's magnitude is 2.07. It is 16 degrees from Polaris. The star is an orange giant and is 126.4 ± 2.5 light years from Earth. It is 130 times...

, Kochab was considered the pole star

Pole star

The term "Pole Star" usually refers to Polaris, which is the current northern pole star, also known as the North Star.In general, however, a pole star is a visible star, especially a prominent one, that is approximately aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation; that is, a star whose apparent...

 during that time instead.

Chinese name

In Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure

Purple Forbidden enclosure

The Purple Forbidden enclosure is one of the San Yuan or Three enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group lie near the north celestial pole and visible all year from temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.-Asterisms:The asterisms are :...

, refers to an asterism consisting of κ Draconis, α Draconis, λ Draconis

Lambda Draconis

Lambda Draconis is a star in the constellation Draco. It has the traditional names Gianfar, Giansar, Juza, Giausar or Giauzar....

, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis

43 Camelopardalis

43 Camelopardalis is a star in the constellation Camelopardalis.43 Camelopardalis is a blue-white B-type giant with an apparent magnitude of +5.11...

, α Camelopardalis

Alpha Camelopardalis

Alpha Camelopardalis is an O-type supergiant star, with an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 4.301. It is the third brightest star in the constellation of Camelopardalis, the first and second brightest being β Camelopardalis and CS Camelopardalis, respectively...

 and BK Camelopardalis

BK Camelopardalis

BK Camelopardalis is a variable star in the Camelopardalis.-Chinese name:In Chinese, , meaning Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure, refers to an asterism consisting of BK Camelopardalis, α Draconis, κ Draconis, λ Draconis, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis and α Camelopardalis...

. Consequently, κ Draconis itself is known as , representing , meaning Second Chief Judge